There is a Peking Duck post
(and the follow-up)
about the
authenticity of a sign that says "No Dogs Or Chinese Allowed" at the
entrance of a park in foreign-leased-territory in Shanghai. That issue has
been beaten to death without a definitive answer as to whether such a sign
really existed. Hearsay doesn't count and unauthenticated photographs
don't count. What is required is a dated photograph of such a sign published in the
1910's/1920's, and that has not yet emerged.

But it is not the purpose of this post to deal
with that piece of history. As far as I am concerned, the case is closed -- since Bruce
Lee included such a scene in his movie Fists Of Fury (also sometimes
known as The Chinese Connection) the entire Third World
already believes this to be true! And we live in a globalized democracy
and the majority rules! Here is the sign and Bruce kicking it to
smithereens! See, it is true!

Anyway, I hope that you understand the
preceding was said in jest. I am really more interested in
contemporary examples of the same sign that can be readily authenticated.
Here is the first one that was reported about a month ago:

[in translation] "Chinese and dogs
not allowed" is well known to be a public notice that insulted the
Chinese during the semi-colonial era. But this sentence has publicly
appeared in front of a factory on Yuannan Street in Lihuan District,
Guangzhou. But the people at the factory did not think much of it, and
they even claimed that this was 'freedom of speech.'

"Notice: All unauthorized Chinese and dogs are not permitted to enter, or else you are responsible for all the
consequences. May 1". This unsigned notice was written with a
chalk pen on a small blackboard hung on the gate of a factory on Yuannan
Street in Lihuan District. When the reporter went there yesterday, the
old factory building appears to be empty with no sign of production
activities. On the outside were two stone tablets which said
"Guanzhou Bicycle Axel Cover Factory" and "Guangzhou City
Wuyang Bicycle Enterprises Sports Equipment Factory."

When the reporter entered the factory, she
observed several males and females watching television or sleeping.
Periodically, someone comes out pushing a bicycle. A female who claimed to
be from Henan province told the reporter that she had been hired by the
"boss" to look after this factory building to make sure that no one
steals anything. She has no idea who the "boss" is as she has
never seen him/her before.

The female said that she had no idea who
wrote those words on the little blackboard. The reporter asked,
"Don't you feel that these words insult people?" The men and
women by the door laughed and said it was good fun. When the reporter
pursued the question further, the female said, "This way, it will stop
strangers from barging into the factory."

There was a row of motorcycles lined up
outside the factory wall. So this was an open-air parking lot.
While the reporter was asking questions, a man came over and took the
blackboard down. The man claimed to be with the parking lot. He
said, "These words were written by children." The reporter
asked, "Why did you hang the words out?" But he turned around
to asked the reporter, "If I want to enter your home now, would you let
me in?"

The reporter asked again, "Little
children don't know enough and so they write 'Chinese and dogs not allowed
in.' But when the adults see that, shouldn't they lecture the
children?" The man claimed, "It is the freedom of speech to
write whatever you want."

About this notice, a lawyer said that freedom
has to be balanced against rights. When a citizen exercise the freedom
of speech, it must be legal and not discriminatory and insulting so as to
infringe on the rights of others. This notice was intended to protect
property, but it cannot be directed against a specific group nor equate that
group of people with animals.

The above case might be taken as something of a
joke. If the reporter had a real wicked sense of humor, she should have
sent a foreigner in there and then watch what happens. "But your sign
says I can come and go as I please ..."

In the following, I am going to offer some more similar case studies to test your
sense of humor. You may not be amused. I am sure that there are many
more examples, as there must be plenty of idiots in this world, inside and
outside China.

(China.com,
May 7, 2004) Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. Public notice at a
park: "Xitou Elementary School has applied to become a Level One
Provincial Elementary School. Consequently, Dongxi Park will be
administered by the school. All outsiders (except for residents of Xitou
Village) may not enter without permission. Offenders will be fined 100
yuan. Thank you for your cooperation."

The explanation of the Xitou Party Committee
was that the park was built with village money, and the students have to go
through the park often. When the park was open to everyone, it was full
of couples making out or prostitutes looking for clients, and this had a bad
influence on the school children.

After being contacted by the newspapers, the
Xitou Party Committee said that the sign will be taken down.

In the late December 2004 edition of Hong Kong's Next Magazine, there is a
special section about Shenzhen. It is estimated that Hong Kong people
will make about 3 million visits to Shenzhen over the Christmas
holidays. Among the places that some might go is the Great Gray Wolf
bar, next to the Great Wall Hotel. The sign on the bottom right reads:
"Japanese people not allowed to enter." The text explains that
the bar has been opened for nine years, and this sign has always been there.
The bar owner says that he hates the Japanese for never having apologized for
the war crimes that they committed when they invaded China. Inside the
bar, there are articles and photos about the Japanese invasion of China (see
photo on the left). The bar owner said that Japanese people have
attempted to enter the bar many times, but the owner and the workers have
always stopped them so that no Japanese person has ever successfully 'invaded'
this bar.

(yninfo.com,
September 23, 2004) Recently, it was came to the notice of the Commerce
Department in Panyu, Guangdong that a certain coffee house had the sign
"This shop only receives Japanese persons" written in
Japanese. When our reporter got there, he found a Japanese sign that
said: "Japanese Karaoke Club" and then in Chinese, "Open for
business between 7pm and midnight." According to local residents,
when they attempt to enter, the staff would tell them that the coffee shop
only serves Japanese customers. The reporter called the listed telephone
number and asked if the shop only served Japanese customers. The
staff said that the shop had no beverage or music suitable for Chinese
customers. If Chinese customers come in, they may not be
satisfied. But if they come with Japanese clients, then they are quite
welcome.

This one is peculiar, since
it is not totally discriminatory. A Chinese passerby will only recognize
the shop name ("Beautiful and Fragrant"), the telephone number and the business
hours. There is no description of the nature of the business in
Chinese. A Chinese person could not tell if this is a coffee shop,
karaoke bar, perfume shop or whatever. This shop is not interested in attracting
non-Japanese-reading people to come in. As such, it did not offend
everyone (whether they are potential customers or not) in the sense of a
"No Dogs Or Chinese Allowed" sign written in Chinese. For
example, what if a Guangzhou store puts out a sign that says "Boulangerie"
with no other explanation?
Is that discriminatory?

(NewsQQ.com)
Yesterday, our reporter went to this furniture store in Zhengbian Road South
in Zhengzhou City. There was a sign outside that said:
"Notice: This furniture store sells fine furniture for successful
people. No admission to anyone making less than 100,000 yuan per
year." Our reporter stood outside and watched people going in
continuously, but there wasn't anyone checking their economic status. The reporter went in and looked around. The furniture
pieces were quite expensive, including a 16,800 yuan bed, a 20,000 plus yuan
sofa but also some pieces that costs around 1,000 yuan. The assistant manager
explained to the reporter that this is a high-end store and the purpose of
the notice is to advertise the price/quality levels. The managing director called
the reporter later to say that his workers misunderstood his original
intent. He had said that he intended to establish the store as a
high-end store, but then the store was seeing boisterous and poorly dressed people
hanging around, some of whom even urinated on the floor. So the workers
misunderstood his intent, and hung out this sign. He said that he has
ordered the sign to be taken down.

(Chongqing Evening News via gb.chinabroadcast.cn)
A bar in Chongqing, China. The sign in yellow reads: "The Lost Bar:
We Refuse To Admit Japanese Inside."

(6Park)
In the city of Jilin, a western-food restaurant has a Chinese-language sign
outside the door: "Japanese must apologize before entering."
The restaurant said that if Japanese customers want to dine here, they must
properly apologize for the fact that Japan invaded China, or else the
restaurant will not offer any services. The owner said, "We welcome
those Japanese customers who look at their national history correctly, and our
restaurant will certainly offer them our excellent services. But we do
not welcome those customers who refuse to regard their history properly."

(Xinwenhuabao via Yahoo!
News) On September 18, the national day of infamy, a certain
flooring sales store in Changchun, China, raised a banner that said:
"Japanese and dogs not allowed inside." Reviews were
mixed. A man walking with his 6-year-old daughter said: "While we
should remember the day of infamy, this is not the right way. It is
exaggerated and misdirected. Not only does it fail to exhibit
patriotism, it actually makes people uncomfortable with this extremely
narrow-minded emotionalism."The manager said that this was the ninth year
in which he had done this on 9/18. "I am not exaggerating even if
I am somewhat extreme. But this is how the warning message gets
through better. This generation must not forget and the next
generation must not either, or else their suffering may be even worse.
My hometown is Dunhua. Last summer, two Dunhua children were burned by
chemical gas bombs left behind by the Japanese army."